Russia says it downs 59 Ukrainian drones, including two heading towards Moscow

Russia’s air defence units destroyed 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two heading towards Moscow, Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday.

Forty-five drones were destroyed over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, the ministry said on its Telegram messaging app.

In addition to the two downed over the Moscow region, drones were also destroyed over the Kursk, Belgorod and Tula regions, the ministry said.

“According to preliminary information, there is no damage or casualties at the site of the fall of the debris,” Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.

Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the Bryansk region, said on Telegram that all drones that Ukraine launched targeting the region were destroyed.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has often said that its drone attacks inside Russia target infrastructure key to Moscow’s war efforts and are in response to Russia’s continued strikes on Ukraine.

The strike came after reports revealed that President Joe Biden’s administration will allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, three sources familiar with the matter said, in a significant change to Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.

The White House declined to comment.

The move by the United States two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20 follows months of requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine’s military to use U.S. weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.

The change follows Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv.